"'Race' is very close to my heart and to get in shape for it has been my priority. Four months of rigorous workout, yoga and avoiding food that I love have got me the desired results," Saqib said in a statement.

"The thriller is all about action and stunts. I wanted to be equipped with an agile and fit body to be able to perform them all. I've been spending two hours in the gym every day. I've been doing action workshops on kicking and punching too. Besides training with my trainer Vilayat Husain, I'm training with Rakesh Udiyar, Salman Khan's trainer, for the action sequences," he added.

For the third instalment of the hit franchise, he even gave up eating butter chicken.

"I am going to feast on butter chicken and naan once I finish with the shoot for the film. I've been missing murg makhani and biryani a lot, so I will have one cheat meal before I get back to training for the two month-schedule in Abu Dhabi," he said.